Gathered in a rough circle in front of the third base dugout at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field, San Diego State’s coaches and players talked a little strategy, laid out the plan for the rest of their Thursday and then moved into a tighter bunch.

With hands raised, in unison, they shouted two simple letters.

“TG”

The bobblehead doll of the Hall of Famer, former Padre, former Aztec and current SDSU head coach comes out only for games, when it sits next to the bat rack, exactly where a likeness of one of the best hitters ever should be perched.

Gwynn, who turned 54 this month, has missed the past 41 games while recovering from his latest round of cancer treatment. He speaks to acting head coach Mark Martinez and players frequently, and they say the team's recent run has bouoyed Gwynn's spirits, but he has not been around the team since beginning his leave of absence in mid-March.

Aztecs play for Tony Gwynn

The Aztecs baseball team is playing for more than a NCAA regional this weekend, they're playing for head coach Tony Gwynn.

The Aztecs baseball team is playing for more than a NCAA regional this weekend, they're playing for head coach Tony Gwynn.

It’s a somewhat melancholy dynamic for the Aztecs, who begin play in the NCAA regionals on Friday against Mississippi State. The program is finally becoming what Gwynn envisioned when he took the job at his alma mater after the 2002 season, and he’s not around to actively participate.

“It definitely sucks because we miss him,” senior second baseman Tim Zier said. “. . . But with him not being out here, it motivates us to play to his expectations.”

Players praised the work of the coaching staff, in particular associate head coach Mark Martinez and pitching coach John Pawlowski, but they still often speak of Gwynn’s impact in the immediate tense.

“Every day what we strive for is to do things right,” Haynal said. “That’s something Coach Gwynn instils in all of us as baseball players and men.”

Gwynn may have been afforded some extra time because his name is on the stadium where the team plays its home games. But it seems he and Martinez, who has been at SDSU since 2005, have laid at least the foundation for sustained success, as the Aztecs are in the regionals for a second straight year for the first time since 1990-91.

More aptly, it has been a remodel.

Gwynn, by many accounts, out-recruited himself at the start, getting commitments from kids who were drafted so high they passed on college. He also was burned by the comings and goings that result from signing junior college transfers and having kids leave the program earlier than expected.

“It’s more of making a commitment to the program and having kids stay in the program for a length of time,” Martinez said. “When I first got to San Diego State, there was a revolving door . . . We made a commitment a few years ago to focus on bringing in quality freshmen from San Diego, the L.A. area -- kids that are going to be in it for the long haul.

“We said, ‘Commit to the program, commit to the legacy, and good things will happen for you individually.' These kids took it to heart. They’ve been here for a long time. That’s how you build a program.”

Often without prompting, the juniors and seniors speak passionately about what they’ve been a part of building.

“It’s kind of always been a young group of guys waiting for that moment when they come to maturity, and it never seemed to get to that point,” said junior center fielder Greg Allen. “Now we’re seeming to finally realize that. With my class and the class that came in before mine, we have been the guys who have kind of anchored us and been that veteran leadership.”

It is not known when, or if, Gwynn will return. But in certain ways he has not left the program.

The seniors on this team were freshman when Gwynn first became ill. It is in their leadership that they honor the man they grew up watching play and now play for.

“He misses being out here just as much as we miss him,” Zier said. “He loves all of us. I tell all these younger guys … we should show up every day and play like he wants us to play.”